Waitwhile offers customizable messaging options to help you communicate efficiently with customers & staff at every step of their visit or booking journey. Whether you’re sending notifications, reminders, or follow-ups, managing your message settings ensures your communication is clear, timely, and aligned with your business needs.
Here's a guide to understanding the different messaging options you have within Waitwhile.
Message Channels
Message channels refer to the different methods used to send notifications. These channels ensure seamless communication throughout the customer journey.
Email
Use Case: Suitable for confirmations, reminders, and follow-ups that don't require immediate attention.
Key Benefits:
Easy to send detailed information (e.g., booking details or instructions).
Useful for sending branded messages with logos and custom HTML formatting.
Considerations: Emails may go unnoticed or end up in spam if not carefully managed.
SMS
Use Case: Ideal for real-time updates, reminders, or alerts.
Key Benefits:
Instant delivery ensures guests receive time-sensitive messages.
High open rate since most people check text messages quickly.
Considerations: SMS may incur costs based on the number of messages sent, and it must comply with regional regulations like TCPA or GDPR.
Push Notifications (Web)
Use Case: Ideal for notifying staff members when customers have booked an appointment, joined a queue, or cancelled their visit.
Key Benefits:
Instant notifications directly on the user’s device or browser.
Doesn't require phone numbers or email addresses for delivery.
Considerations: Users must opt-in for push notifications on their device or browser.
Messages Types
Message types are categorized into incoming and outgoing messages. These message flows enable seamless two-way communication between customers and staff, ensuring smooth interactions throughout the customer journey.
Incoming: Are messages coming from customer in response to an automated, triggered, or custom notification.
Outgoing: Are automated, triggered, or custom messages sent from your Waitwhile account to to customer or staff member (user).
Waitwhile provides several types of automated messages that are triggered based on guest actions or queue status:
Message Recipients:
Customer Messages: Are communications sent directly between your business and the customer before, during, and after their visit.
Team Notifications: Are internal communications sent to staff members (users) to help them manage operations efficiently and stay updated on customer activities.
Message Origin Type:
Automated: Messages automatically sent as a result of an event
e.g. customer registered to a Waitlist, customer cancelled a visit
Triggered: Messages sent as a result of a triggered manual action
e.g. User alerts customer, marks customer as a no show, or rejects a customers appointment request
Custom: Messages sent manually as custom messages to one or more customers.
e.g. saved replies, individual messages sent/received from a specific customer
Have additional questions or need assistance? Reach out to us via chat or at support@waitwhile.com